


Wings of the Lucky

by WolfieChan12



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-20
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-20 19:11:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/890825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfieChan12/pseuds/WolfieChan12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it's all over, Togami doesn't expect the one person he truly cared about to be ripped from his life so suddenly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

                 _“Hi! You’ve reached Naegi Makoto! I’m not available at the moment so leave a message!”_

His heart lurches in his chest and he stares at the television in disbelief. Helicopters are flying around the area, supporting several news crews and cameramen; on the sides of the roads, police cars and ambulances are parked and firemen are racing to put out the fires that sprang to life with the impact of the two vehicles.

                The olive-green Honda Civic’s left side is completely destroyed; the back door is awkwardly hanging off of its hinges and the glass of the windshield and windows are completely shattered. Some of the windows have little to no glass remaining; they’re now just gaping holes in the side of the crushed car.

                He tries calling again.

                He gets the same thing; Naegi’s voicemail, his cheery little recorded message, a haunting reminder that Togami will _never_ be able to hear the brunette’s voice again –

                The field reporter continues to speak; she keeps saying something about how both drivers died on impact, how one wrong move resulted in “this tragedy” and how she’s _so sorry_ and how _her heart goes out to the friends and loved ones of both of the deceased_.

                _Bullshit._ Togami knows she’s not sorry; it’s her _job_ to deliver the goddamn news, to stand outside in front of the latest countrywide tragedy and look pretty while telling the world that she’s _so fucking sorry_ for what happened. She doesn’t care – she’s getting paid to do this.

                The blonde pinches between his eyes, slightly lifting his glasses off of his face as he heaves a long sigh. Once again, he dials the number, hoping that Naegi will pick up the phone and that this is all just a dream or a vivid hallucination. He’s pacing around his living room in front of the TV; he can’t count the number of times he’s smacked his foot against the couch or coffee table or the amount of times his shaking hands have dropped his phone to the floor.

                Togami sits down and yet again, the phone goes straight to voicemail, but when he hears Naegi’s joyous _“Hi!”_ over the line his heart skips several beats and for a minute, he thinks that Naegi’s alright and that he’ll just escape the accident with broken ribs but he’ll be _alive_ –

                -- and just like that, he snaps back into reality as his phone falls to the floor and he holds his head in both hands. He sits like that for a minute, listening to the woman report this and that ( _“The accident happened at blah blah location, the bodies will be identified at XX time…”_ ) until his phone begins to ring, the sound dulled through the carpeting below. He wants it to be Naegi calling; he wants to hear, “I’m okay – really!” or _something ridiculous_ like that, but he knows it’s not going to happen.

                He counts the trills for a few seconds before reaching down and picking the object up. He doesn’t glance at the caller I.D. and his voice cracks as he weakly murmurs, “Hello.”

                It’s Asahina; she’s sobbing so hard that her words are coming in between hiccups, and her voice is shaking so badly that Togami can barely understand her. “To…Togami-kun,” she gasps for air, “t-tell me that… that… it’s not,” another gasp and pause; he waits a full minute for her to talk again, listening to her shaky gasps and high-pitched whines until her final feeble murmur sounds through the speaker, “it’s not… Naegi-kun’s car…”

                By the way she’s crying, Togami knows that Asahina is plenty aware of who it is dead in that olive-green Honda Civic. He shakes his head before flatly muttering, “It is.” He can’t keep his voice calm, and he practically gives in to the anguish tugging at his core when Asahina’s wailing gets louder.

                “I… I…” she stammers, and he thinks he hears Sakura over the line though her voice is muffled. He imagines that Sakura is trying to console the girl, but when he hears a soft, “Don’t c-cry…” from Asahina he becomes aware that Sakura’s attempt at calming Asahina has utterly failed. “I’m sorry…” She eventually begins again, and just when Togami is about to snap at her – for _what reason_ does she have to apologize?! – she sniffles again and softly says, “I-I know he was important… to you.”

                _Important_ doesn’t even begin to cover it, Togami thinks bitterly as he stares down at the floor, wondering how the _hell_ Naegi could have been ripped from the world so ridiculously fast. It was only this morning that the brunette had called and said that he was dropping in for a visit and that Togami should be ready. It was only a few hours ago when he had last heard Naegi’s voice, when the brunette had greeted him good morning and then hung up the phone with, _“I’ll be there in a bit.”_

                Togami quickly states that he needs to be left alone and he turns off his phone without bothering to hit the “END” button. He simply sets the machine down on the table before glancing at the television once again and turning it off. With that, he leaves for his room and doesn’t come out for the rest of the day.

                He spends the day pacing around his bedroom, making attempts to read and yet never being able to get past the first page because something would remind him of Naegi eventually, and if nothing in the book reminded him of Naegi then he would remember all the _good times_ the two had with each other – the time Naegi had no clue what to buy Togami for his birthday and so he bought him a kitten, which Togami had taken care of for the past three years; their first date in which Togami had brought him to the fanciest restaurant in the city and Naegi was so confused over the fact that there was a different type of fork or spoon to eat each dish with…

                Eventually he collapses back on his bed, rips his glasses off of his face, and simply decides to just go to bed, even if it’s the middle of the day.

                It doesn’t work. Even well into the early morning of the next day, he can’t sleep, because every time he closes his eyes, Naegi is _there_ and he’s talking to Togami although the latter forgets what Naegi is saying every time his eyes open once again.

                And then… when he finally _does_ manage to fall asleep, he has this… dream.

                It seems ordinary.

                He’s simply walking down the sidewalk, nothing too big. A steady rain is falling to the ground and he lacks an umbrella or coat and is completely drenched, head-to-toe, but he doesn’t seem to _care_ and he keeps on moving forward.

                The world around him begins to shift. At first, the sun begins to set despite the fact that it was previously high in the sky and only a few moments have passed. The rain blackens and now it looks as if oil is raining from the sky. The dark rain begins erasing the colour and texture from the world until there is nothing, nothing but a soaking-wet Togami standing in a void of blackness. And yet, he continues to walk, his head hung, as if the world is still perfectly one-hundred percent normal and not… nothing.

                A soft white light flickers and glows from a distance, and Togami raises his head up and stares at it, the white light reflecting on the lenses of his glasses as he turns towards it and walks closer. He never gets any closer and the distance stays the same despite the fact that he sometimes breaks into a run to catch up to it.

                Just as he’s about to give up and ignore the glowing ball of light, a voice resounds around him. The voice belongs to a female and Togami doesn’t recognize the voice’s owner.

                _“The most important thing in your life will return to you.”_

                He’s about to ask what she means when the dream world fades and his eyes snap open as he’s faced with reality yet again. Togami sits up and within seconds forgets over half of what he’s dreamed, and yet he can’t get the voice of the woman out of his head. He glances at the clock; it’s around six a.m. and the sunrise has bathed his room in a light orange colour.

                He tells himself the only reason that he’s leaving his room is so that he can eat breakfast and get to his morning ritual, but he has no motivation to do so. Bitterly, he thinks that the voice in the dream reminds him of a creepy fortune teller woman in a bad movie, and he puts his glasses on and heads for his door with a “hmph” and an embittered smirk.

                Slowly he makes his way down the stairs, and as soon as he passes by the living room he remembers his phone and goes to check on it while turning on the news. Sure enough, the story isn’t on yet, but he knows that it won’t be long until the bodies are identified.

               

                A day passes, and then a week, and then a month. The world around him has gone back to life, everyone forgetting about what happened, everyone but Naegi’s closest friends and his family.

                At the funeral, his friends all speak about him in-turn, dressed in black and reading their short speeches and talking about him as if he was still alive. Togami is one of the few who doesn’t stand up and talk; he frets making a fool of himself in front of the massive group of people. Even Mondo gets up to speak and looks as if he’s near his breaking point as well; Fukawa is there as well and all she does is gently place flowers next to the grave stone. She doesn’t bother talking to Togami; even she knows that this is a bad time.

                He stands by the grave and stares at it even after the others all leave, and when he’s sure no one is watching he lets the first droplets fall from his eyes, and then he squints hard and makes his way to his car to go home.

               

                Life… almost goes back to normal, even after a year. Sometimes he has that same dream, the one about the glowing orb of light in black space, and sometimes the woman’s voice is there and sometimes it’s not. Togami has Naegi’s death date circled on his calendar and when that day comes around, he stares at the calendar in disbelief, still having a difficult time believing that the brunette is gone.

                His tabby – Makoto, as he named him a little over four years ago when Naegi first got him from the pet store – mewls at his door and Togami stands and makes his way towards it. When he opens it, the overweight cat turns and begins to bounce down the stairs on eager paws.

                Togami passes by the living room and momentarily glances into it, and then has to back up and do a double take. He swears he turned the television off before he went to bed the previous night…

                The blonde stares at the channel – it’s the news, and the field reporter woman (who Togami cannot _believe_ hasn’t been fired from her job yet) is going over the “tragedy that happened one year ago” even though there were _plenty of other “tragedies”_ that occurred over the past year. Though, apparently the person who ran into Naegi’s car was pretty famous for something. _That_ was all those half-wits cared about, was that one popular person. They didn’t care about the other person who died.

                He hears something.

                He thinks he’s hallucinating, but he hears something so heart-wrenchingly familiar that it threatens to send him over the edge.

                “Huh, so _that’s_ how I died?”

                Togami bursts into the room and stares down at his couch; the first thing he catches is a pure-white feathered wing draped awkwardly over the recognizable form. The person is sprawled out over the cream-coloured couch, remote in one hand, right wing folded and squished in between their back and the cushions on the couch.

                “You –” Togami begins, but he can’t continue and he swears that he’s hallucinating or dreaming or _something._

                The brunette turns around and sets the remote on the coffee table. When he catches sight of Togami, he sits up and stares for a minute before saying, “Hey, Togami-kun.”

                There’s a long silence between them; Togami has long since forgotten about his cat, and in shock he stammers out,

                “N-Naegi?!” 


	2. Chapter 2

                Naegi shifts a bit so that he’s sitting up properly on the couch and he folds his wings tightly against his back; Togami can spot rips in the fabric of his blazer and hoodie where Naegi’s wings burst through the fabric, or he assumes that they burst through anyway. He doesn’t know what to think; the brunette is seemingly _alive again_ – an Angel, Togami thinks, what a cliché.

                “What… what are you _doing_ here?” He questions, because what else is he meant to say? _“Hey, glad you’re back.”_ That won’t cut it. As he makes his way towards the couch on the left side of the room and sits down, he thinks that he _has_ to be hallucinating or having a vivid dream. In the real world, things like this didn’t just _happen_.

                He adjusts his glasses and then leans back, crossing his arms over his chest. He doesn’t look at Naegi and his eyes wander towards the television. The current story being broadcasted is about a small girl who raised money to donate towards cancer research. The story seems too joyous for the current situation; sure, he’s _happy_ to see Naegi again, but Naegi doesn’t seem like Naegi. He seems distant, not like himself, almost like a different person.

                “Well,” the brunette begins, “I died.”

                _Thanks for the reminder._

                “I don’t remember many things, and that includes how I died. Only when I saw pictures of the crash on the news did I recall what happened to me.” He frowns a bit. Togami can feel Naegi’s gaze burning into him, but he never looks towards the boy.

                “You don’t remember anything?” Togami finally glances towards Naegi, but immediately he flicks his gaze away. He idly stares at a potted plant in the corner of the room while he talks. Still, he has no idea if he should say “welcome back” or ask what it’s like being dead.

                Naegi holds up three of his fingers. “Before I got here, I recalled three major things. My name, your name, and that we are friends.”

                _Friends._ The word rings bitterly through his ears and he shakes his head a little bit, trying to brush off the thought. In the back of his mind, Togami is acutely aware of the fact that things couldn’t just go back to how they used to be, no matter how much he wants them to.

                He wonders why Naegi decided to show himself in front of Togami first, but he doesn’t bother to ask the question. It’s pointless, he thinks, because Naegi isn’t himself. Naegi is currently a shadow of what he used to be. Togami knows that some part of him is still in love with the boy who he mourned for the longest time, but he no longer expects those feelings to be reciprocated in any way. In fact, Naegi’s been gone for so long that he thinks “love” is too strong a word now. The feeling is odd; Togami can only describe it as bittersweet warmth.

                Whatever they “had” is behind them, and with an irritated smirk, Togami thinks that he should probably keep it that way.

                They sit in silence for a few minutes, Naegi staring at Togami with a small frown on his face and Togami staring anywhere _but_ at Naegi. Eventually the brunette turns off the television, and when the silence grows too uncomfortable, Togami has to inquire as to whether or not Naegi recalls any of his other friends. The brunette shakes his head, and once again Togami wonders _why him_ and _why he’s the only one_. He doesn’t ask.

                Instead he coldly stares at Naegi and sharply asks, “ _How_ did you manage to get _into my home_ without setting off the alarms?” Sure, the house isn’t technically his – it belongs to his parents, but they’re never home and they’re fairly sure they can trust their son with everything – but he refers to it as belonging to him. Makoto mewls from the doorway, displeased that Togami has forgotten to feed him, but Togami waves his hand at the cat as if to say “not right now”, though he knows Makoto won’t understand it.

                Naegi shifts for a second to stare back at the cat in the doorway, and then he smiles at him though it doesn’t seem to trigger any hidden memories or anything of the like. He then turns back to Togami and shrugs his shoulders a bit as his green eyes flick around the room, staring at every expensive trinket and potted plant Togami has on display. “I sort-of just… woke up here.” He admits, heaving a sigh.

                “As… an Angel.” Togami mutters in disbelief – he still finds the whole situation far too cliché.

                “As an Angel.” Naegi confirms with a slight nod. “I’m sorry, Togami-kun. I can’t remember very much about what happened.”

                Togami simply shakes his head; he’s had enough for one day. He doesn’t know what to think, what to believe, and part of him frets that if he closes his eyes to go to sleep he’ll simply find that he was sleeping and that Naegi is still _very much_ dead.

                _That_ , he thinks as he stands up with the intention to finally feed Makoto, _would just be a twisted joke._

                Naegi follows Togami as he feeds the cat and then goes about his day. The two hardly say a thing to each other, probably because it’s far too awkward, and though Togami tells Naegi that he can wander around and pretty much do whatever he likes, Naegi sticks by his side. Togami reads for most of the day; now that he’s able to do so, he’s fully enveloped in the fantasy world within the pages and he practically forgets Naegi for a mere fraction of a second – that is, until Naegi’s wings flap a bit. He’s lying on his stomach on the floor of the study; Togami is sitting at his desk and is using the small desk lamp to illuminate the pages of the novel.

                He turns in his chair and stares down at Naegi, who looks up at him and grins a bit sheepishly. He’s petting Makoto, who Togami didn’t even realize was in the room until right then.              

                Naegi turns back to the cat and just when Togami is about to go back to his novel ( _Why the hell does he keep following me around_ , Togami thinks flatly yet again that day), Naegi’s wings move yet again and he simply murmurs,

                “Togami-kun, did you and all of my other friends miss me?” If Naegi could remember anyone else, Togami knows that Naegi would be aware of the answer to that little question. The boy seems so lost now; his mind is almost completely vacant of anything from his past, and the colours in his eyes are dulling. He almost seems to be acting happy to reassure Togami, if that.

                “We did.” Togami answers, sounding bored.

                “How long can I stay here?” He then asks, casting Togami a sidelong glance as his left hand idly strokes underneath the tabby’s chin.

                Togami hasn’t even taken that into account yet; he was so preoccupied with thoughts of the day’s events (and reading) that he completely forgot about accommodations for Naegi. He debates taking Naegi to his parents’ home yet again (assuming they live in the same location, but Togami’s about thirty-percent certain he has the phone number of one of Naegi’s family members written down) but he decides against it for now. It is, of course, the anniversary of Naegi’s death-date, and the day itself is completely dull and downcast solely because of that reason. He doesn’t know if it will lighten the mood or not if he takes Naegi to his family.

                _Naegi’s no longer Naegi._ He reminds himself.

                “I suppose you can stay for a few days.” Togami states as he turns back to the desk although his eyes focus on the blinds covering the window instead of the novel.

                “After that?”

                “I’ll have you escorted back to your family.”

                Nothing else is said between them; the room falls into silence and Togami is once again wrapped up in his reading. The only thing that breaks the dreary silence in the room is the soft hum of Makoto’s purring and the occasional sound of Naegi’s wings idly flapping.


	3. Chapter 3

                The next few days are incredibly slow and dull. Nothing notable happens; the cat gets fed, Togami reads, Naegi plays with the cat, Naegi asks some pretty simple questions ( _“How long have I been gone?”_ and _“Do you think I will see my friends again?”_ are probably the two biggest), and life…

                Life is still on hold for Togami. The rest of the world moves fast around him; everything happens in a blur – Asahina’s got a regional swim tournament to attend, Fukawa’s next novel is out – and he’s still in the same state he was after Naegi died. He doesn’t think things will ever go back to “normal” and he’s definitely not going to force them to. Togami is grouchier than normal; part of him doesn’t want to take Naegi back to his family and another part doesn’t want to listen to more of Naegi’s questions – they’re both annoying and painful at the same time.

                Naegi hops into the passenger-side seat of Togami’s expensive Lamborghini Veneo and stares around the interior. On a typical day, Togami would have someone _else_ take Naegi home but he wants to do this personally, as he doesn’t think Naegi could explain to his family why he’s back without some help. Besides, part of him wants to see the brunette off. He’s pretty sure he still knows Naegi’s family’s address.

                He’s prepared for a completely silent car ride; by the way Naegi looks out the window with a frown and dull eyes, Togami thinks that the brunette won’t be saying much of anything, but as soon as he starts the car up, Naegi turns to him and asks yet another question. This one, however, catches him off-guard.

                “What was our relationship like before… this?” He motions to himself; clearly he means his rebirth and memory loss.

                Togami freezes and his heart lurches in his chest; he shakes his head and simply rests his hands on the steering wheel, not looking at Naegi and not saying anything for a moment. He’s not going to tell Naegi the truth; it’s not worth it anymore, not if the brunette doesn’t remember anything, not if he has to _ask_ what they were because he _fucking died and became something and someone else._ Though he wishes Naegi would hurry up and recall everything, he flat-out refuses to say something to trigger those memories.

                He knows why he keeps holding back – it’s because Naegi’s not himself, and he reminds himself of that fact constantly – though he tells himself it’s simply because he doesn’t want to deal with the hassle of helping someone regain a part of their past.

                “Why are you asking that?” Togami practically spits.

                Naegi pauses; something clicks in his head and he puts on his seatbelt finally, and then Togami stops for a moment to put his on as well. The brunette turns back to Togami, his green eyes scanning over the blonde, and then he lightly says, “Lately, you looked like you’ve been longing for something long gone. I was just wondering if it was my fault.”

                He shakes his head. “We were friends, to some degree.” Togami mutters flatly. “ _That_ is all we were, and all we will ever be.”

                If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that Naegi looks disappointed. He, of course, is disappointed too.

 

                Naegi’s parents and sister are so overjoyed to see him again that they completely forget Togami is there for a moment. He’s standing on the doorstep, waiting for them to stop hugging and touching the brunette and actually bring him inside. Though he had planned on explaining what happened, he’s pretty sure Naegi can handle that – after all, Togami knows nothing that Naegi doesn’t, and so he eventually gets fed up with standing on their doorstep in the hot sunlight and quickly hops into the Veneo to go home. He doesn’t bother to say goodbye.

                As soon as he takes one step into the home, Makoto brushes against his legs and gives off a purr before bouncing into the kitchen and mewing at his empty food bowl. Togami tells the cat that it’s not time for him to be fed even though Makoto doesn’t understand. He’s so irritated for whatever reason that he nearly screams at the cat, but he stops himself and notes that it’s stupid to take his anger out on an animal. Instead, he marches up to the study and decides he should just go back to reading.

                That ultimately fails, however, when the next novel he tries to start ends up being about an Angel. He practically throws it back onto the shelf before sitting back down and staring at the closed blinds. There’s been nothing for him to do recently; no management positions available at the company (not that he is in the right mindset to work anyway), nothing to do outside, and no one to talk to…

                He’s ultimately bored.

                He debates going out again; who knows, maybe there’s a new restaurant or maybe there’s some fascinating new novel out ( _other_ than what Fukawa writes), but he doesn’t move from his chair until he decides that he’s not going out again and grabs a different book from the nearby shelf.

 

                A week passes at a snaillike pace.

                Despite the fact that his phone has been on for the majority of the week, he’s had no messages and hasn’t heard from Naegi at all. He’s beginning to finally, _finally_ think he’s fully gotten over Naegi when, as he’s digging through his desk drawers for a pen that actually works, he finds a photo.

                It’s one he hid away shortly after Naegi died. It’s a shaky low-quality shot from Asahina’s cell phone from the last time the entire group decided to go out together. Togami only went because Naegi and Asahina refused to take no for an answer when he initially declined; they had showed up unexpectedly at his doorstep and when he opened the door, they both dragged him out.

                The photo is dusty from sitting in the drawer for so long. It depicts Naegi surprising Togami with a hug from behind, and in the picture Togami in particular looks like he’s about to yell at _someone_ though it’s been so long since that time that Togami’s forgotten who he was about to scream at. He recalls that Asahina had printed out the photo after uploading it online and sent it to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away.

                He still can’t. Even after he holds the image over the trash bin for a full minute, letting it hover, he still can’t bring himself to get rid of that little, unimportant memory. He briefly groans and then shoves the photo back into the drawer, slamming it shut and leaving the room.

                He doesn’t want to reminisce any longer. Doing things like daydreaming and remembering times long gone would only worsen his mood, and so he stops himself from doing so.

 

                The first message to wake him up two days later is from Hagakure. It’s a Tuesday, and it’s around seven in the morning when the message comes in. It’s not like Hagakure to be up so early in the morning from what he knows, but it’s also not like Togami to sleep past six-thirty in the morning. He amounts his extra half-hour of sleep to the fault of stress and sits up, puts his glasses on, and checks the message.

                _“u didnt tell anyone that Naegi-chi was back!!!!”_

                Togami doesn’t respond to that. So _that’s_ what the Angel has been doing – getting reacquainted with his friends.

                He gets slammed with messages from everyone besides Fukawa all day, and he finally figures out why that is when a message from Kirigiri (who rarely uses her phone for texting, and if she does she certainly doesn’t message him) comes in.

                _“I’m not completely sure why this is, but Naegi was… shall I say, reborn. He says you were the first to know – you should have informed the rest of us. Fukawa-san is, of course, upset over the fact that Naegi is once again alive.”_

                _That_ would be because Fukawa is probably still in love with him, Togami thinks, and she was pretty pissed off when she found out that he and Naegi had a certain type of relationship between them before the accident.

                Togami wants to ask her how much Naegi remembers but he decides against it, part of the reason being that he’s trying not to give a damn and the other part being that Kirigiri’s messages are so ridiculously _long_ that they’re an eyesore to read. Togami thinks she’s better off just _calling_ him instead, on the off-chance she has something to say to him.

                The moment he sets down his phone, the screen lights up and flashes with a message from an unknown number. Once again, he grabs the phone and reads the message.

                _“It’s naegi. My family bought me a new phone because I guess mine got destroyed in the accident. Kirigiri-san gave me your number”_

                Togami ignores the message and gets up to bathe and eat breakfast. He abandons his phone on the night stand and he doesn’t come back to it for a good few hours.

                By the time he _does_ come back, he discovers that he has ten missed messages, all from Naegi, and that he’s missed a call from the Angel as well. He decides to check his voice mail first; it’s been so long since he’s used the service that for a moment he forgets his voicemail password, but luckily he remembers it before the machine yells at him.

                The recorded voice drones on about how he’s got a voice mail from _this number_ and then finally, Naegi’s voice rings out over the speakers.

                _“Togami-kun! Answer your phone! This is an em-er-gen-cy!”_ He sounds incredibly impatient, and though Togami grows slightly worried he’s sure that Naegi’s “emergency” isn’t life-threatening. In fact, the brunette sounds more like he’s irritated with the fact that Togami wouldn’t answer his texts; he doesn’t seem to be freaking out over something that could be considered a _real_ emergency (like a _car accident_ , Togami adds bitterly).

                Heaving a sigh, Togami gets into his messaging inbox and checks the ten text messages.

                _“Do you think I can come over?”_

_“Sorry Ive been gone for a week.”_

_“I started to remember my family life.”_

_“I learned how to fly over the past week. I just got done showing everyone”_

_“I JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING ELSE”_

_“your cat. I gave him to you. What did you name him again?”_

_“Togami-kun?”_

_“Can I come over? I want to talk to you”_

_“this is important, can you please reply?”_

_“are you mad at me?”_

The blonde quickly tells Naegi that it’s okay to visit, though he doesn’t know if he truly wants to see Naegi right now or not. He leaves his room to check on Makoto; he’s already given the cat food but he doesn’t remember filling his water bowl up, and if he has it’s probably empty by now considering how much that damn cat drinks.

                He barely makes it to the bowl when he hears a knock at the door and instantly, he’s aware that it’s Naegi. Togami reasons that Naegi can wait for a bit and he fills up Makoto’s water bowl, sets it back down on the floor, and makes his way towards the front door.

                It’s obvious Naegi flew himself to Togami’s home as his wings are outstretched, the sun glistening off of the bright white feathers. There’s a square bandage on the right side of Naegi’s face and though Togami wonders what happened and is about to ask, Naegi’s words completely catch him off guard.

                “ _Why_ did you lie to me?”

               

 


	4. Chapter 4

                While Togami’s too dumbfounded to respond, Naegi practically storms into the house; Togami shuts the door hesitantly, not knowing what the _hell_ has gotten into Naegi. What did he lie about? He ponders this for a solid minute, and then something clicks finally. He locks the door and begins to walk away; Naegi inevitably follows him. He’s mad; Togami doesn’t think he’s ever seen Naegi truly _angry_ before. He knows what this is about, and his guess is affirmed when Naegi says,

                “You lied about what our relationship was before I was killed.”

                For a brief moment as Togami turns into the lounge, he thinks that Naegi’s remembered that important bit in his life, but he shakes it off on the belief that if Naegi had really _remembered_ that, he wouldn’t storm into Togami’s house and demand an explanation.

                “Why?” He questions as Togami sits down on a sleek black couch.

                Togami takes a second to adjust his glasses and then he leans back, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not going to tell the truth if you can’t remember it.” He practically spits, and Naegi cocks an eyebrow at him, opening his mouth to speak, but the blonde cuts him off before he can with a curt, “You probably still can’t recall it.”

                He’s about ninety percent sure that Naegi is offended.

                “No, I don’t remember.” He admits, sitting on the coffee table in front of Togami, and though the latter sharply tells Naegi to move, the brunette stays in place. “I found out because of Kuwata-kun casually mentioning it. I don’t think they really realized that I had forgotten that. You should have told me.”

                “Like I said – I’m not going to tell the truth about something like that if you can’t remember it on your own.”

                “I would have accepted that. I don’t understand why –”

                “It would have been awkward.” Togami cuts him off.

                “You don’t know that.”

                Togami stands and begins to make his way out. He doesn’t want to deal with this right now. He doesn’t want to explain what’s on his mind, but when Naegi grabs his wrist to stop him, he yanks his hand away and yells out, “Whatever we ‘had’ is long behind us!”

                Naegi follows him as he storms out. “Why?!”

                “Those ‘feelings’ you used to have are nonexistent now.” He hisses before turning and moving up the stairs.

                “And you don’t think I could get them back or remember them?!” Naegi screams from the bottom of the stairs. “Do you even want to try?!”

                “No matter how hard I ‘try’,” Togami begins sullenly, “nothing will be the same.”

                When Naegi doesn’t respond, Togami simply moves into his bedroom and slams the door shut, locking it. He thinks he hears Naegi yell again although if the latter did, Togami didn’t catch anything he said. When the sound of the front door slamming resonates throughout the house, the blonde decides to come out of his room.

                He turns his phone off beforehand and slips it into his back pocket. He’s not going to deal with it – there’s no way in hell he could possibly handle trying to revive long-forgotten feelings. He pretends Naegi’s anger at him doesn’t sting and goes about his day.

 

                It takes two days for Naegi to return. He doesn’t even knock or leave any indication of his arrival; he simply sits down on the doorstep until Togami opens the front door with the intention to go out for the day. It takes all of Togami’s self-control to _not_ slam the door in Naegi’s face when he stands up.

                A low “sorry” leaves Naegi’s mouth, his head hung, and when he looks up Togami notices that in place of the large square bandage from yesterday is a scrape that’s almost healed. He doesn’t apologize; he doesn’t see the need to, he said what he wanted that day and he stands by it. Instead, he holds open the door and as Naegi trudges inside, he mutters, “What happened to your face?”

                “When I was first flying, I crash-landed. That’s not what I’m here to talk about.” He’s trying to rush the conversation along. Togami closes the door, adjusts his glasses, and stands in the doorway while Naegi repeats that he’s sorry and says that he wants them to put the fight behind them and forget that they’ve ever had the discussion. Togami agrees to it with a nod, though he knows he personally won’t just “forget” what was said.

                He wishes Naegi would just remember so they could skip the awkward friendship phase. Despite the fact that he had said that what they had was behind them, he doesn’t actually want that to be true. Naegi’s probably the only person he’s cared about on a personal level – he wants Naegi to remember, to feel as he did back then, but he has no idea how he should go about triggering those memories.

                Naegi says that, to make up for the argument (which Togami believes he should be the one making up for it; after all, he’s the one who started it all with that white lie), he wants to go to a movie with the blonde. Togami agrees, though he’s not keen on the idea; he doesn’t like movies, but if it repairs their damaged relationship even a bit, he’s pretty much all for it.

 

                Naegi can’t exactly walk around with his wings out. He could, but Togami doesn’t want to deal with the questions, so he loans Naegi the heaviest black trench coat he can find. Luckily it’s fall, so it isn’t terribly hot outside and he doesn’t look like a total idiot for walking around in that.

                Togami has never been to a movie theatre in his life as far as he can recall (he might have gone once when he was a child, but that’s probably it) and he has no idea what he’s doing. Naegi seems to remember that small detail; in fact, he seems to remember everything except for things relating directly to himself. Neither one of the two want any of the overpriced snacks they offer at theatres and so they completely pass the snacks section by and make their way to get their tickets checked and get into the actual _theatre_ part of the building.

                The brunette had picked some sort of action movie for them to see. Togami couldn’t care less; though, he did make clear he would not sit through a comedy, drama, or romance film.

                Togami is bored throughout the entire movie while Naegi seems to be enjoying it, but he’s at least pleased with the fact that they’re able to do something together and ignore the awkwardness of their situation. That thought makes him grin a tiny bit and chuckle, which he’s sure Naegi catches out of the corner of his eye.

 

                When they make it outside, it’s raining. The rain is light – it’s not quite a sprinkle but it’s not a flood, either – and though they stand under the roof’s overhang waiting for it to stop, the rain doesn’t slow down for the twenty minutes they stand there in silence. Naegi suggests they run to the Veneo; Togami shakes his head. He’s not going to run and he flatly states that he would much rather stand against the bricks of the theatre all day than run out into the storm, however light it is.

                Naegi’s stomach growls and he laughs a bit sheepishly. “We should get something to eat while we wait.” He suggests with a grin, his wings shifting uncomfortably on his back underneath the heavy coat he’s donning.

                There’s not a restaurant in particular that stands out to Togami but he agrees anyway, and they settle on a pasta place at the end of the street (which ended up requiring him to walk through the rain anyway, and had Naegi not run ahead Togami would have stayed under the overhang like he had planned). Togami almost immediately backs out when the radio in the restaurant is tuned in to some horribly distasteful pop music, but he decides he doesn’t want to go back outside again, at least not until the weather lets up.

                Over their late lunch, Naegi keeps talking excitedly about what he did over the week he didn’t see Togami at all – how his family kept taking him to his favourite locations in the city to help him regain his lost memories, how he watched Leon play at a local baseball game, how he saw Maizono in concert and went to one of Junko’s photo shoots with the girls, how he watched Asahina swim laps and then devour an entire box of donuts on her own…

                And he stops talking suddenly, staring at Togami as the latter takes a sip of his water, idly twirling his fork in his pasta with his opposite hand. As soon as Togami sets down the glass, Naegi smiles and says, “I had fun today. Thanks.”

                The small comment prompts Togami to grin, just a tiny bit.

 

                The rain didn’t let up at all – in fact, it got far worse – and inevitably he was forced to run back to the Veneo, much to his dismay and irritation. Naegi is the first one into the vehicle, hopping into the passenger’s seat and then throwing off his wet trench coat, his wings shifting a bit once the fabric is no longer restricting him. Togami gets in and runs a hand through his wet hair, straightening out the loose strands, and he slams the door and buckles up before starting the car.

                On the way home through the powerful storm, Naegi chatters about how his family took him to get new clothes and that in each of his shirts and jackets, he has to cut holes into the back so that his wings can get free.

                Togami knows that Naegi’s just trying to keep the conversations going, even if he’s the one doing ninety-five percent of the talking, but he doesn’t necessarily mind it. Sure, the stories are something he couldn’t care less about, but at least it’s something for the two to discuss.

                The road is beginning to flood and Togami curses his bad luck. Of _course_ he would have to drive in the terrible weather. He can barely see even with the windshield wipers smearing away the droplets of water, but if he pulls over he’s sure the car will get stuck. Anyway, he knows this road well, and so he’s not too worried, especially because he’s driving slowly and both of them have their seatbelts on.

                A car up ahead begins to skid, but Togami doesn’t see it as a cause for concern as he takes his turn.

                Naegi’s loud scream of, “Togami-kun!” cuts him off and he turns to look at the Angel in confusion just as the skidding white Toyota rams headfirst into them, pushing them off of the road and into a low water-filled ditch.

                The glass of the windshield is completely shattered and there’s a dull pain in his head. He curses in the back of his mind – this is almost exactly the same thing that happened to Naegi over a year ago – and as Naegi repeatedly screams with fear and worry and shakes Togami’s bleeding shoulder, the latter’s vision gets blurry and then…

                …he can’t hear Naegi anymore, and he completely blacks out. 


	5. Chapter 5

                The room surrounding him blearily swims into focus as he slowly opens his eyes. There’s a dull pain in his head and upper body and a low and steady, _“beep…beep…beep…”_ resounding throughout the room. It takes him a full minute to realize that he’s in a hospital and that the obnoxious beeping sound is from the heart monitor. There’s an I.V. inserted into his forearm as well, which he stares at for a moment as he recalls what happened.

                He thinks to himself that the bastard that smashed the side of his Veneo and caused him to be hospitalized had better pay the full extent of his medical bills, even if Togami is insured and has money to throw around.

                When he tries to sit up he notices an abnormal pressure on his abdomen, and at first he’s thinking that something far worse has happened, but when his gaze moves to see what the problem is…

                Naegi’s got his head lying on top of Togami’s stomach, his face buried in his arms, and he’s shaking as if he’s been… crying. When Togami manages a slightly weak, “Naegi?” the brunette’s head snaps up and his puffy red eyes immediately brighten. His face is red and he’s sniffling, but a wide, overjoyed, and relieved smile forms on his face and he sniffles a bit.

                “You – you’re okay!” Naegi practically tackles him when he throws his arms out and embraces the blonde, and Togami weakly requests that Naegi _get off of him_ because he’s hurting Togami. Naegi backs off a bit and resumes sitting down in the chair he had pulled up to Togami’s bedside.

                “You were out for an entire day.” Naegi informs, finally losing his cheery smile. “Your glasses were smashed and you sustained injuries to your head and upper body, but the doctors are saying that you’ll be released within a week.”

                A week. Togami really doesn’t want to waste his time staying in the hospital for a week, but he reasons that he can deal with it if he has something to do.

                “You know,” Naegi continues, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting a bit, “you worried me half to death! I thought you were dead because you wouldn’t respond when I talked to you!”

                Togami shakes his head and a tiny smile forms on his lips.

                “I remembered some other things.” The Angel adds, leaning his head in his palm and his elbow on the edge of the bed. “They’re not necessarily about me, though. I guess you always wished I would come back to life, right? Did you have any weird dreams while I was gone?”

                Togami cocks an eyebrow and he nods slowly and hesitantly; he’s not completely sure where this is going and part of him doesn’t want to find out.

                When he answers Naegi’s question, the brunette makes a face as if he’s watching someone slowly die, and then his voice quivers a bit as he softly murmurs, “Apparently I was allowed to come back to you on a condition. You have to prove something – I’m not sure what it is – if you want me to stay here. If you can’t… prove it within a certain amount of time, I’ll end up dying again.”

                A dreary silence is cast over the room and Togami finds himself staring at Naegi as if he’s waiting for more answers he won’t be able to get; Naegi’s gaze is locked at the floor and he doesn’t look very thrilled with the idea either. It’s a test, Togami figures – whatever otherworldly realm out there that allowed Naegi to come back as an Angel is testing him to see if he’s worthy of _keeping_ the boy.

                He shakes off the thought. He doesn’t want to think about it right now; he’s too exhausted to do so. Finally, it occurs to him that Naegi is seemingly uninjured from the wreck – he’s sitting there with his wings limply resting by his sides, simply wearing a T-shirt and jeans (when Togami looks to his right, he sees Naegi’s hoodie and blazer piled on a chair in the corner), and the only marks on his body are hidden behind cheesy colourful Band-Aids that one would most likely see being given out in a pediatrics center. The Band-Aids are travelling up his right arm and Togami doesn’t know if his left looks the same.

                And then a thought clicks in his mind that – shit – Naegi’s wings are out in the open and they’re in a public place.

                He motions to the bandages and asks why Naegi is uninjured everywhere but there.

                “Oh.” The latter sounds awkward as he explains. “I guess I have accelerated healing that kicks in when I get injured badly. When the ambulance rescued us from the car, I had shards of glass sticking out of some locations and one of my legs was broken. Later on, everything healed. The… the bandages are from when they stuck me with a few needles and ran tests on me. It was difficult to explain to them why I have wings.”

                “As long as they don’t intend to keep you here as a lab subject, I couldn’t care less about your wings being out in the open.” Togami replies, though he sighs inwardly. He’s glad Naegi can heal major injuries quickly – that’s beneficial, although he’s sure that Naegi’s ability to heal will die away if Togami doesn’t soon figure out what he’s supposed to prove to whomever decided to test him.

                Naegi stands and makes his way over to the chair where his jackets are; underneath the crumpled heaps of fabric are several cases, which Togami identifies as movies. He holds them up and mutters, “I got movies for us to watch from a rental shop not too far from here.”

                “You hid your wings, I assume?”

                He nods and motions to the trench coat, which Togami didn’t notice hanging on the back of that same chair. As he opens one case and reaches up to the TV hanging off of the ceiling, popping the CD into the DVD player that’s sitting on a shelf suspended below the bulky television, he solemnly mutters,

                “I had to beg the doctors to let me sit in here with you until you woke up. It paid off, though.”

                He locates the remote and turns on the movie, fast-forwarding through movie previews and then sitting down as the legal info screens pop up. He hits “play” and then turns to Togami. It doesn’t seem either of them are going to watch the movie; Togami doesn’t want to watch but he doesn’t say no, partly because he’s tired and partly because he’s humbled by the fact Naegi cares so much.

                “Somehow your phone survived the wreck, too, but the screen is cracked.” Naegi reaches into his pocket and pulls out the device. Togami simply heaves a sigh and sets it on the table next to him. Before Togami can say anything else, Naegi pulls out his own phone and brings up the dialer, quickly punching in the number and then pressing the phone to his ear. The blonde watches to see who he’s calling, quickly losing interest when he discovers that it’s Kirigiri and he’s simply telling her that Togami is fine.

                When he hangs up, Togami inquires, “You called them?” It’s not a harsh question and he’s not mad; he’s just curious as to why Naegi would tell _everyone_.

                Naegi looks like he’s about to dial someone else as he nods. “They’re your friends, too, Togami-kun.” He states with a frown. He continues making calls for a pretty decent amount of time and then finally, he calls what appears to be his mother, informs her that he’s “still” in the hospital with Togami, and then hangs up.

                It’s somewhat difficult for Togami to see without his glasses; his vision isn’t _that_ bad but it isn’t _that good_ either, but while they sit in silence and occasionally make small talk, his eyes focus on the blurry television screen and he half-pays attention to the movie.

 

                By the time the end of the week rolls around and Togami is allowed to leave, Naegi has already done him a favour and gotten him replacement glasses (which he did rather late in the week after Togami made the call to his eye doctor) and he’s discovered that his Veneo is in the shop being fixed up. Of course, that means taking _public transit_ home, which Togami isn’t too keen about. He’s about to board the bus when Naegi suggests calling a taxi (he’s not thrilled with that idea either, albeit it’s a better alternative in his opinion).

                In between the period between the accident and Togami’s release from the hospital, Naegi has suddenly become the person that carries the blonde’s things around. When Togami asks where his phone is, Naegi pulls it out of his pocket and hands it over (he silently wonders when the _hell_ the brunette managed to get his phone, but he recalls he let it die on the table next to his hospital bed and didn’t touch it since he woke). When the taxi pulls up by the curb near his home, Togami gets out and says he’s going to go inside to get the payment necessary for the driver when Naegi pulls out his wallet and explains that it was another thing rescued from the wreckage. Togami takes it, pays the man, and the two go inside of his house.

                The blonde is grateful to be back home, mostly because the hospital food was _utterly disgusting_. He immediately makes for the fridge and decides to cook himself something decent, and then he wonders if the damn cat has been fed and if he’s still _alive_.

                When Togami bends over to pick up the food bowl, he discovers that it’s full and he looks at Naegi as the brunette sets Togami’s keys on the counter, as well as his glasses case and what appears to be a crumpled up paper containing his lenses prescription information. “I came by to feed the cat.” He explains; Togami notes that Naegi’s pockets are either bottomless or he has too many, and he decides the latter is more plausible.

                “I have _servants_.” Togami explains flatly as he goes back to what he was previously focused on.

                Naegi nods. “I only dropped by once because they said they could handle everything, after I explained what happened.”

                Naegi had spent the entire week sleeping in nothing but that little chair. Sometimes Togami would wake up and see him there, his wings curled around him in a protective shell, sleeping with his knees drawn to his chest. He rarely left Togami’s side, often bringing by movies for the two to watch. Togami notes that the gestures were _nice_ but that they would have been _nicer_ if Naegi was as he remembered.

                Makoto hops up onto the kitchen island and mewls as Togami decides that, since it’s midmorning, he’ll make pancakes since they’re simple and more delicious than what he was eating for the past week. Togami does the majority of the cooking when he’s home and doesn’t go out to eat; he doesn’t like other people touching his food unless they’re certified chefs who went to culinary school (and he refuses to hire a personal chef because that’s just another person he has to pay for).

                Naegi pets the cat, which begins purring loudly before flopping down onto the island’s marble surface. When Togami looks back at the two, he sees Makoto trying to roll onto his back, but the poor creature is too overweight to do so without help.

                Togami makes pancakes for the both of them, managing to only burn the first one after being distracted by Makoto swatting at a feather that Naegi plucked from one of his wings. While he cooks in silence, he begins to give himself a headache while he wonders what he’s meant to prove. The whole idea of Naegi being snatched up from the world again is practically tearing him in half.

               

                They eat breakfast and Togami goes upstairs to read. Naegi doesn’t stick around, but before he goes, he throws a hug over Togami’s shoulders and breathes out a quick, “Goodbye.”

                Togami follows Naegi out and stands at the front door as he watches the boy take to the skies in a spectacular display, feathers shimmering brightly as he flies into the bright daylight. Naegi doesn’t realize that Togami saw, and for the rest of the day, all the latter can think of is how amazing the boy looks with wings. 


	6. Chapter 6

                It’s a few days until Togami can pick up his Veneo from the repair shop; when he gets there (via taxi, yet again) he sees that the vehicle is _almost_ good-as-new. He doesn’t leave his car in the shop and tell them to fix the small, barely noticeable ding on the side because he wants the damn thing _back_ so he doesn’t have to take the taxi everywhere.

                He’s thinking to himself that he should probably see if he can get back to helping manage the company, since he’s sure that someone holding a managing position there has been _fired_ by now (incompetent fools, Togami adds in the back of his mind). Besides, he’s bored as all _hell_ and he doesn’t plan on doing nothing forever – and, there’s money involved too.

                He’s two seconds from picking up his phone on the drive home when it rings, and without looking away from the road, he somehow manages to answer the call (though, he has to glance away for a second to hit the “speaker” button).

                It’s quite the coincidence that he was just debating going back to holding a management position again, because the person on the line (he has no clue who it is – a new company recruit, he guesses) is complaining that they need Togami to go back to working there for the time being. Togami accepts, of course, with a smug smile. He then hangs up and continues driving.

 

                Naegi comes around a week later, dropping in for a visit at the absolute worst time. He doesn’t bother calling or texting to ask to come over – he just shows up and knocks on the door, and before Togami can reach the door one of the maids does, and she cheerily announces that “Togami’s friend” is visiting.

                Togami is exhausted from his previously unexpected late night at the company, and he’s taking the morning off before he goes back. He had intended to sleep albeit he couldn’t sleep past seven a.m. if he _tried_ (and, he did). He thinks that he probably looks terrible, like he has a cold or something, and when Naegi questions if Togami is feeling alright, all he says is that he was out late working at the company.

                The brunette doesn’t question Togami’s work; either he doesn’t want to ask, he’s uninterested, or he remembers that Togami is the company’s heir. The blonde doesn’t have a guess on which is the correct reason and he doesn’t care one way or the other.

                Togami decides that he’s going to go sit down and relax a bit, though Naegi follows and on the way he manages to pick up the tabby as he passes by. The poor creature is so ridiculously overweight and heavy that Togami doesn’t even bother picking the cat up anymore, simply because now he’s too big to carry around for long, and on top of that Makoto doesn’t hold _still_. As soon as Togami sits down on the couch in the living room, Naegi sits down next to him and Makoto crawls onto his lap and flops down halfway between the two.

                “I’ve remembered a lot more.” Naegi states, which causes Togami to briefly turn to look at him. “I think I’ve almost remembered everything. The most recent thing I remember from before I died was…” He pauses and in that short span of time, Togami wonders how Naegi is able to differentiate memories from before death and after rebirth, but on second thought he figures it can’t be _that hard._ “It was…” He looks like he doesn’t really want to say it, and Togami inwardly wonders _what the hell_ he can’t seem to say. “The first date we went on.” He eventually says, and if Togami didn’t know any better he would say that the Angel _very faintly_ blushed.

                “You remembered that?” Togami mutters, and for a minute he sarcastically thinks, _You remember something like that and you can’t associate feelings with the memory, can you?_

                Naegi nods slowly but he doesn’t respond; he’s probably embarrassed over the whole situation. They spend a few more minutes in silence before Naegi asks when Togami has to go back to work, and the blonde answers that he’ll be going back at around noon. It’s ten o’clock currently.

                The silence in the room is just far too awkward and the clearly embarrassed Naegi reaches for the television remote and turns on the TV. Togami, meanwhile, waits until eleven and then pushes the tabby off of him before standing and informing Naegi that he has to get ready and then leave.

                When he gets back home at around nine that night, he spots Naegi curled up on the couch fast asleep, his wings lying limply next to him.

 

                It’s a little over a month of the same routine – Togami wakes up, does his morning ritual, goes to work, comes home, does whatever he wants for the last few hours of the day, and then crashes. Naegi sometimes drops by with stories – Asahina did _this_ and Mondo did _this_ and Maizono’s latest concert was _great_ and _I think you should hang out with our friends more often_ – but his memories have stopped returning. Togami feels almost betrayed by the fact that he seems to be the _only one_ who is still partially missing from the Angel’s mind, and he’s not too keen on Naegi remembering if the latter isn’t going to remember any emotions affiliated with the old memories.

                Naegi’s beginning to get… ill. He drops by one day, maybe halfway through the month, and he coughs a little bit. Togami asks if he’s got a cold and the Angel replies that he doesn’t _think_ he does but he did go swimming in a freezing-cold lake with Asahina and Sakura one day and so that must be why he’s coughing. Togami doesn’t think much of it because Naegi only coughs maybe once every half hour.

                Togami notices something is completely and utterly _off_ one day at the month’s end when Naegi’s coughing fits (which were gradually worsening over the course of the month) get so terrible that he can barely talk at some points. As Togami is reading, Naegi breaks into another fit and the former turns around in his chair only to catch specs of red shimmering on Naegi’s open palm. The Angel immediately hides his hand when he sees Togami looking and he laughs awkwardly, flaps his wings a bit idly, and then he announces that he’s going to the bathroom and that he’ll be back.

                Togami knows he should have stopped Naegi and taken him to the hospital. When Naegi gets back, carrying a box of tissues and coughing into those, Togami almost mentions going to the doctor when…

                …when it clicks.

                “You’re dying.” He breathes out.

                “I’m not –”

                “Being ill is one thing, but coughing up _blood_ is not.” Togami snaps, adjusting his glasses and narrowing his eyes at Naegi, who is standing awkwardly in the center of the room. Before Togami can say anything else, he breaks into another coughing fit and doubles over onto his knees, tightly clasping the thin tissue paper over his mouth. Togami doesn’t move -- it’s not that he doesn’t want to be by Naegi’s side; it’s that he can’t bring himself to do so. He refuses to let Naegi be snatched away again, yet he can’t even move.

                “I’m fine…” The brunette weakly insists once the coughing stops; the tissue he was using is now coloured crimson, and Naegi quickly crumples it and throws it into a nearby trashcan.

                “You said that there was something I had to do a month or so ago, something I had to prove so that you could stay alive.”

                “I don’t… I don’t know what it is.” Naegi’s eyes are dull – when they first met again, Togami recalls that Naegi had dull eyes then, but they had brightened as he regained his memories. Now, however, they’re becoming lifeless.

                He can’t handle the conversation right now. He abandons his book on the desk and leaves Naegi in the room by himself, slamming the door as he marches down the hall. He’s far too upset to think and he doesn’t have a single clue on what he’s supposed to “prove” to the world. When he gets to his room, he slams and locks the door and sits on the edge of his bed, trying to calm himself down.

                When he wanders back into the study an hour later, Naegi is gone, and the box of tissues is neatly placed on the far right corner of the desk.


	7. Chapter 7

                Two days pass until he sees Naegi again. In those two days, he kept trying to tell himself that Naegi wasn’t dead and that he was still alive, but the brunette wouldn’t answer his messages at all. It’s not as if Togami sent many of them, but he often did inquire as to how Naegi was doing out of worry. Though, if asked, he would probably say that Naegi was the _least_ of his concerns. He was wondering if everyone else – Kirigiri, Chihiro, et cetera – knew about what was happening but he figured that they didn’t, because this whole “prove _blank_ to _blank_ to keep Naegi alive” was his own personal mission.

                Anyway, when Togami sees Naegi next, it’s raining outside and Togami personally refuses to drive anywhere based on what happened the last time he drove in a heavy storm. He takes the day off but he doesn’t expect a dull-eyed, slowly dying Naegi to show up at his doorstep, completely drenched from the storm. It’s rather late into the evening and the sky is still darkening. Naegi’s wearing a surgical mask and he breaks into another coughing fit before he can even say anything. Fresh blood appears in splotches on the other side of the mask next to the rusted colour of old blood, and Togami curls his lip in disgust.

                “You’re too sick to be paying a visit.” Togami mutters flatly, though internally he’s thrilled that Naegi’s still clinging onto his life.

                “I,” Naegi is breathing heavily as he moves inside of the home and he’s dripping water all over the place, “came because you were worried. I got your messages. I’m okay –” He cuts off as another fit seizes him; a maid runs by with a stack of towels and begins to clean the puddle and another soon joins in, helping dry the shivering Naegi off.

                “You’re not okay.”

                “I – I know.”

                Togami wonders how much more of this the dying Angel can take – he’s inhaling the stench of his own blood, breathing as if he’s got half a lung left, and…

                When the heir looks, he can see that Naegi’s once bright white wings are now dull; no longer do the feathers look healthy and shiny, as they once did – instead they’re damaged and discoloured, and there are even patches where the feathers are no longer present.

                “Where did you disappear to for the past two days?” Togami questions, folding his arms over his chest.

                “I just… wandered. I couldn’t… go home because… they’d worry.”

                “You should have gone home.” Togami replies curtly, because _maybe_ if Naegi was in the _damn hospital_ he would be able to live a bit longer. “Have you remembered _anything_?” When he says “anything” he’s talking about that little “mission” that’s been bugging the hell out of Togami for what feels like an eternity.

                Naegi only shakes his head, looking utterly dejected. He manages a weak, “I’m probably… going to die again.”

                Togami doesn’t expect to be sent over the edge by that but instead of storming off as he usually would and locking himself in whatever room he decides to stomp into, he unfolds his arms and clenches his fists at his sides. He doesn’t know what to say; Naegi’s not going to die, he tells himself over and over, he’s not going to let it happen, he can’t –

                -- but of course, he doesn’t know how to stop it from happening. And now, he’s standing and watching as Naegi’s life slowly slips from him as painfully as it can.

                There are raw scratches on Naegi’s face and the backs of his hands, and when Togami questions them, Naegi explains that they’re the result of him having itches that wouldn’t go away. Naegi says that they’re a few days old and that the stinging hasn’t stopped.

                He’s not healing at all. Even if his ability to regenerate quickly only applies to major injuries, Naegi isn’t naturally healing small ones.

                Togami, currently, believes that he’s living some kind of terrible nightmare that he can’t ever wake up from. He practically screams at one of the maids to go fetch bandages for the brunette, and she squeaks out of what seems like _fear_ and then books it across the mansion. It doesn’t take her long to return with a roll of bandages and hand them over with shaky hands.

                He crouches and wraps Naegi’s hands up while the latter asks him why he’s doing it, and Naegi negatively brings up the point that it’s a waste and once again states that he’s dying –

                -- Togami screeches for Naegi to shut up and the brunette does, and he doesn’t say anything as his eyes burn into Togami’s flesh. The Angel breaks into another fit and doubles over onto his side, shaking visibly, his breathing weakening further.

                “…sorry.” He manages, and just when Togami thinks that the brunette is going to pass on right then and there, he somehow gets to his feet and then leans against the wall as he opens the door just enough for him to slip out into the storm again. His wings droop behind him and some of the already-damaged feathers are dragging on the ground and picking up whatever dirt is left on the pavement of the walkway.

                “ _Where_ are you going?” Togami shouts out after him, and Naegi just shakes his head as he saunters away, and even as he coughs and chokes on his own blood, he doesn’t collapse and he keeps going. _He’s wandering off to die._ That’s the reality of the situation – Naegi doesn’t want Togami to watch him suffer any longer; he wants to get away, he desires to be left alone in his final moments so that no one is watching him as he slowly transitions back into the afterlife, and _he’s probably got at max one fucking day left before he drowns in his own blood and is erased from the world yet again_.

                Togami is shaking, he’s so angry – he’s not even angry anymore, it’s more like a mix between misery, torment, and defeat. He screams after Naegi yet again and the brunette still doesn’t turn around as he makes it outside of the property and turns, beginning to sulk his way up the street.

                Without thinking, the blonde races after him. He leaves the door open and he knows it, but it’s not his concern right now. Hell, someone could steal his entire fortune and he wouldn’t care, so long as Naegi is alive, so long as the brunette can at least remain his friend, that’s _all_ he wants.

                He’s left his blazer inside and is running out just in slacks and a white button-down shirt, and he doesn’t care if the heavy rain makes his clothing cling to his skin and covers his glasses in droplets of varying size, his main focus is stopping that _idiot_ from dying in the middle of the street.

                He stops running as soon as he’s directly behind Naegi. It doesn’t take long for Togami to catch up, seeing as Naegi can’t walk at normal pace, and through the dull sound of the rain splashing against the pavement he calls out, “Get your _ass_ back inside!”

                Naegi continues to step forward a few feet on trembling legs, stopping at the corner of the street next to a streetlamp. He stumbles and leans against the black-painted pole, trying to stay standing up, clearly trying not to collapse. As Togami slowly and hesitantly makes his way towards Naegi, the latter grabs the mask he’s wearing and rips it off, throwing it on the ground behind him. Naegi’s lips are chapped and cut up and there are smears of dried blood on the corners of his mouth. Currently the boy is weakly trying to scrub away the dried blood off of his chin using his bandaged hands.

                “Naegi.” Togami snaps as he catches up. “Get back inside.”

                The brunette looks down and a low, barely audible, “No” sounds out around the two.

                “ _What_ the hell is your problem? Get your ass back inside before I drag you back there.”

                Naegi only shakes his head. His shoulders are quivering but it’s not because he’s coughing; when he sniffles Togami realizes then that Naegi has completely broken down. He wraps his arms around his body as if he’s trying to comfort himself, to stop himself from sobbing, and after a moment he dizzily wobbles but manages to keep upright, barely.

                “I can’t… I can’t do it.”

                “Why?!”

                “I’m dying…”

                “You’ll die faster out here.”

                Naegi hiccups because he’s crying so hard, and as the tears fall from his eyes and mix with the rain, he softly mutters, “I’m just going to – to end up hurting everyone again. Es-especially you.” Occasionally he gasps and stutters in-between his words. His arms weakly fall to either side of him and he sniffles yet again, looking up at Togami with puffy and downcast eyes. “I’m scared, Togami-kun. I don’t want to l-leave you again.”

                “ _How_ do you think I feel?!” Togami snaps, but something flashes behind Naegi’s eyes and makes the blonde’s heart lurch in his chest.

                Slowly, the Angel forms the words, “I remembered everything. I remembered how I felt about you.”


	8. Chapter 8

                Suddenly, Togami can no longer think straight nor can he move a single muscle. Naegi has to be _lying_ , right? He’s _got_ to be – why, of all times, would he remember now? And what the _hell_ is Togami meant to prove to the world in less than twenty-four hours to keep Naegi with him?

                He remembered – Naegi actually remembered, but Naegi is _dying_ right now and probably won’t see the sun come up in the morning. The very thought increases Togami’s anger tenfold. He’s not going to lose Naegi again, he’s not going to –

                “ _Get back inside.”_ He spits coldly, and though he doesn’t intend to come across as cold, he’s feeling too many emotions right now to care how he sounds to Naegi. Togami almost needs to intimidate Naegi so that the Angel will actually listen to him and follow his demands.

                Naegi breaks into another coughing fit, hurling blood up into a puddle forming on the sidewalk. He shivers and then sneezes; great, Togami thinks, on top of this he’s now catching a cold. When his fit finally ceases, the brunette gazes up at Togami with tear-filled eyes, he softly whispers,

                “I’m dying, Togami-kun. You have to let me go.”

                It takes approximately two seconds for Togami to decide that he’s _not_ letting Naegi die again, and then he closes the gap between them and cups Naegi’s face in his hands and practically yanks the Angel off of his feet when he smashes their lips together. The rain is heavily pounding on both of their skulls and the sound of the downpour is the only thing Togami can hear. Just when he’s about to break the kiss, Naegi’s arms wind their way around his neck and hold Togami in place for just a few moments longer.

                When they finally break apart, Naegi is blushing so hard that Togami thinks that his face might catch fire, and then the former buries his face in Togami’s chest and doesn’t move for a time. He idly moves his wings back and forth, creating small gusts and flicking water all over, and then finally the brunette brings his head back up and the two gaze at each other for a time before Naegi begins to walk back to the house.

 

                As soon as they step through the door, the maids begin rushing in with towels and begin helping the two dry off. Togami announces that he’s going to go change clothes as he kicks off his soaked shoes and makes his way, dripping-wet, up the stairs. Naegi follows after a moment, though he’s still rather slow and weak.

                The brunette asks if he can borrow something dry to wear and while Togami agrees to it, he states that Naegi will have to keep at minimum the shirt because they need to cut the back open. Weakly, Naegi sits in the corner of the room as Togami pulls out clothes he’s _pretty sure_ he could part with, and then the heir uses scissors to snip holes into the back of the shirt before tossing the clothing in Naegi’s general direction.

                Togami changes in his bathroom, dumping his wet clothing into the laundry basket, and when he emerges into his dark bedroom once again, he can’t help but grin a tad bit at Naegi. The latter has moved from where he was and is now standing, his wings wiggling as they break through the holes cut into the back of the button-down shirt he’s donning.

                Sadly, the blonde thinks that if Naegi is going to die, he will spend the last night with the brunette just because he can. He’s exhausted, though, so he climbs into bed after setting his glasses aside for the night.

                Naegi stares down at him until the blonde lowly mutters, “Come here.” The Angel then crawls underneath the covers although he’s a bit shy about it, and then he softly whispers,

                “I’m sorry.”

                Togami doesn’t ask what for; the explanation might hurt, and he finds that it will be easier for him to rest for the night if he doesn’t hear it. He intends to say something brief to Naegi but instead, he ends up pouring out a lot more than he expected.

                “If you’re still here when I wake up, I’ll end up taking the day off.”

                “Why?”

                “I can’t have you being torn out of my life again, Naegi.” He heaves a sigh and closes his eyes for a brief moment, opening them and adding, “If you’re going to _die_ , I’m going to stay next to you until you do. You’re… you’re far too important to me.”

                “You suddenly seem way out of character.” Naegi jokes with a weak laugh; his coughing fits have stopped for the time being, which Togami is grateful about. “What are you getting at?”

                A sudden groan echoes around the room and Togami retorts with a snappy, “I’m trying to say that I _love_ you, idiot.”

                The brunette laughs a bit and then he scoots closer to Togami, burying his face in the latter’s chest as he previously had done out in the storm. “I’m glad. I love you, too.” He murmurs, and that’s the last thing that is said between them as they both drift off to sleep.

 

                When Togami wakes, Naegi isn’t there anymore.

                He’s scared, honestly, for a moment. He sits up and hurriedly puts his glasses on, looking around the room for the Angel. He doesn’t see Naegi _dead_ next to him although he doesn’t really know if Naegi would fade away or something of the like ( _I’ve been reading too many novels._ Togami thinks, because it’s ridiculous to think that a dead body would just _disappear_ ).

                His heart lurches in his chest and he thinks that Naegi is dead and gone yet again, and in a panic he whips the door open and shouts, “Naegi?!”

                A moment later, a low, “ow” is heard and when Togami pulls the door back, he spots Naegi holding his nose and groaning in pain. What’s odd is, Naegi looks… completely _fine_. His wings are folded nearly against his back and the colour has returned to his eyes. No longer does he seem completely devoid of life, and his breathing is actually… normal.

                “What’s wrong? I was just walking around while I waited for you to get up.”

                “What the _hell_?” Togami practically yanks Naegi back into his room and looks him over. Naegi has taken the bandages off of his hands; the scratches that were there previously have healed completely. “Last night, you were _dying_ –”

                Naegi cuts him off with a dorky grin. Togami almost, _almost_ wants to wipe that stupid smirk off of the brunette’s face, but he resists. “Apparently the ‘thing’ you had to prove was that I was the most important thing in your life. That’s the memory I got from my dream last night. You proved it, so I get to stay here.”

                Togami is so dumbfounded – it’s so _cliché and ridiculous_ that he would have never guessed that was the solution – that his jaw falls slack for a moment, and then he closes it, contemplates what _the hell just happened,_ and finally he manages to shout,

                “Why the _hell_ couldn’t you have remembered sooner?!”

                “It’s not my fault!” Naegi yells sheepishly, but then he throws his arms around Togami’s shoulders and cheerily murmurs that he can stay and that Togami doesn’t have to worry anymore.

                After a couple of seconds, Naegi grins in a cheeky fashion and pulls away, gazing up at Togami and then saying, “I’m glad _I’m_ the most important thing in your life, Togami-kun.”

                He resists putting up an argument, simply because telling Naegi that he _isn’t_ like he wants to do to save his pride isn’t worth the time. Plus, he’d be lying if he said that Naegi was completely unimportant…

                The two make their way out of the room and Togami shuts his bedroom door behind him before following Naegi downstairs. Outside, the sun is shining brightly through the windows, drying up the storm from the previous night. Togami makes his way into the kitchen with Naegi in-tow, the latter’s wings idly flapping. Makoto hops up onto the counter and mewls, purring once Naegi reaches over to pet him.

                Togami lightly smiles to himself just as Naegi softly says, “Oh, yeah. I didn’t tell you this morning – I love you.”


End file.
